social media

We’ve arrived at another community feedback week on WELSTech, and the sites and resources shared are functional, friendly, free, and favorable for furtherance of ministry. 😀 Sallie’s coding Minecraft sheep to produce diamonds, Martin’s scanning historic photos with his smart phone, and WELS has a new youth ministry resource worth checking out. Listen & learn!

The discussion:

Tab-palooza – Sallie’s loaded up a whopping 27 tabs of WELSTech goodness for this week’s WELSTech community feedback discussion. From G Suite tricks and updates to ministry tech ideas for the upcoming Advent and Christmas season to a tool for creating virtual reality scenes, there’s something for everyone!

Participate – for #WELSEd Twitter chats, including one scheduled for November 16 at 8:00 pm Central

Welcome back to WELSTech. This week we share your community feedback covering technology plans, social network tips, and church year calendars. Throw in a 3D printed WELS Logo plus a large dose of doctrine joy, and there is something for everyone. Join the conversation!

Featured video:

Coming up on WELSTech:

Episode 468 – Jason Schmidt is back in the guest host chair, with a healthy dose of sunshine in tow, as we dive into the latest Horizon Report for K-12 educational technology. Release date: Wednesday, September 28.

Get ready to go social as WELSTech begins a season-long focus on social media for ministry. This month we look at the Why, What, Who and How of Instagram. There’s news from Apple and Code.org, plus a bluetooth speaker winner and even more Instagram greatness to close out the show. Don’t wait … watch or listen now!

The discussion:

Visual communication – New this podcasting season is a monthly series titled Social Media for Ministry. The fist platform Martin and Sallie take a deep dive into is the popular image-sharing app Instagram. View the full-size Instagram for Ministry infographic and follow the links below for more details.

News in tech:

WELS now:

“What does this mean? The continuing importance of Luther’s Small Catechism” is the title of the upcoming Interactive Faith series led by Rev. John Braun. Tune in on Wednesdays at 6 or 8 pm Central beginning September 21.

WELSTech has something for everyone on this community feedback episode. Topics include social media strategy, mobile photography, Google Apps for Education, church bulletins and more! Martin and Sallie also share the latest news from TechSmith and Google, helpful tips on Excel and the Chrome browser and worship/bulletin artwork from WELS artists.

On WELSTech this week the community is front and center as we share feedback and explore new tech finds that can have a positive impact on church, school and personal ministry. Tech news includes a controversial customer letter from Apple, and this week’s picks leads to an “official” name for a new design element from Google.

The discussion:

From all the channels – Martin and Sallie share tips and tricks from the WELSTech audience via all our social channels. From printing the moon to church websites to digital media, there’s WELSTech goodness of all flavors represented!

Celebrate Christmas week with WELSTech’s special interview of Pastor Paul Prange, WELS Administrator for Ministerial Education. Martin and Sallie share their final picks of the week for 2015 plus special videos from President Schroeder and the College Choir from Martin Luther College.

The interview:

Get on their channel – Martin sits down with WELS Administrator for Ministerial Education, Paul Prange, to talk about using online media channels to let your light shine. He shares his unique insight on helping teens use tech to the glory of God and the advantages of tuning into the best communication channels (from telephone to e-mail to Facebook) to reach out to others. Pastor Prange also has some great advice about being salt and light in what you do online.

Martin flies solo but brings with him one of his favorite social networking tools – Hootsuite. If you have anything to do with your organizations social media activities, you might find this tool invaluable! And wouldn’t you know, in Sallie’s absence, there is more than just a little Community Feedback Martin struggles through…even a Pinterest post.

The discussion:

Make your social network manageable – You know that your organizations social network activities you be better. If only you had more time, a better strategy, or compelling content. This “monologue” provides excellent tips for content and network usage, as well as a walkthrough of Hootsuite — one of the best ways to schedule your social media posts, plus much more.

Featured video:

Coming up on WELSTech:

Episode 399 – Take a walk down WELSTech Lane with Martin and Sallie as we look back at at retro shows and look ahead to the big 400. Watch and participate on 06/30/15 @ 4 pm Central – welstechlive.wels.net

This week’s WELStech is quite a zoo as Martin shares digital outreach tips, there’s a BORAM on the loose, and the Education on Air archive is available. Tune in for all of this plus a milestone birthday for one of the zoo keepers!

The interview & discussion:

10 Tips for Cross-Cultural Digital Outreach – Martin is just back from Boise, ID where he assisted a congregation considering digital outreach strategies, particularly in their Vietnamese mission efforts. He boils down the efforts to 10 useful tips for anyone doing online outreach, locally and globally.

Celebrate Cinco de Mayo WELSTech-style as we share details of the Martin Luther College “social” event of the year. The community feedback mailbag is full of intrigue, and listeners have a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card. Throw in our picks of the week and a ministry resource, or two, and we’ve got the makings of a great podcast!

The interview & discussion:

Pray, Share, Give – Martin Luther College Vice President for Mission Advancement Mike Otterstatter visits the podcast studio to chat about the use of social media ambassadors to share the events of the first ever MLC Day.

Two great topics are featured on today’s WELSTech – productivity and social media. Consider how the Gospel influences your personal mission statement, and learn how to engage social media “influencers” in your congregation and school as online ambassadors.

The discussion:

Design – The WELSTech book discussion topic this month is Part 3 of What’s Best Next by Matt Perman. Martin and Sallie roll up their sleeves and write mission, vision and goal statements as well as evaluate the various roles they perform.

The interview:

Going Viral – Justin Ware, Director of Interactive Communication at BWFSocial, shares ideas with Martin and Sallie about church and school use of social media channels, including the use of volunteers for an online ambassador program to share communication with wider circles.

Community feedback:

Coming up on WELSTech:

Featured videos:

This week we’ve added a new video to our Music playlist on YouTube – Wonder 2014 Preview by Dawn Michelle Williams – Join Dawn live this Sunday, December 14 at 4:00 & 7:00 pm at the Duran Arts Council, PSI Theatre in Durham, NC – Learn more at Dawn’s website